Kenyans fear Dakatcha Woodlands biofuel growth
23 March 2011
By Will Ross
BBC News, Dakatcha
Sitting in the shade of a tree beside his thatched mud hut in in Kenya's Dakatcha Woodlands, Joshua Kahindi Pekeshe is bold.
"We are not going to let this land go even if it indicates shedding blood," he told the BBC.
"Land is extremely crucial to us. We farm and get our livelihood from it. On this land we bury our dead."
He is among the numerous individuals opposed to the creation of a large biofuel plantation in the area, about an hour's drive inland from the seaside town of Malindi.
It is a dry area and home to some 20,000 people along with internationally threatened animal and bird types.
Ambitious objectives
An Italian company has asked the authorities for authorization to rent 50,000 hectares there to grow jatropha, whose seeds are abundant in oil that can be become bio-diesel.
This plant, originally from South America, has long been grown in Africa as a hedge to keep out animals - goats stay well away as it is dangerous. The location impacted is neighborhood land which is being kept in trust by the regional council.
Kenya Jatropha Energy Ltd is 100%-owned by the Milan-based Nuove Iniziative Industriali SRL.
It has actually rented almost a million hectares in Africa; jatropha oil from a plantation in Senegal is being provided to the Swedish furnishings seller Ikea. Other companies have leased land for the exact same function in Ethiopia, Mozambique and Ghana, as well as in India.
This growth has actually been spurred by the European Union, which has set enthusiastic objectives for decreasing greenhouse gas emissions and lowering its dependence on imported oil.
The 27 EU nations have registered to an instruction which specifies that by 2020, 20% of energy must be from sustainable sources, external.
Why is Africa impacted?
Because it is hard to find 50,000 hectares of readily available land to grow a biofuel crop in, for example, the UK or Italy.
Why 'feed' a car?
But project groups have actually labelled a few of the jobs in Africa "land grabs" with dire repercussions for the frequently voiceless African neighborhoods.
Some ask: "Why 'feed' a car in Europe when appetite at home is still a reality?"
"Our future is no longer in our hands. We have been told we have to move because they wish to plant jatropha curcas here," said 27-year-old Merciline Koi, a mother of 2, who added that there had been no offer of payment for leaving her home in Dakatcha Woodlands.
Kenya Jetropha Energy Ltd says the negotiations are over - the government has okayed for a pilot task to begin with 10,000 hectares and all it is awaiting now is the last paperwork.
The company says hundreds of permanent and thousands of seasonal tasks will be produced and it rejects that anyone will be displaced by the task.
"We wish to protect your homes and the personal home. We will farm around your homes," Kenya jatropha curcas Energy Ltd head Girardello Adriano told the BBC from Milan.
"We are assisting these individuals. They are very pleased for this task. No-one will be moved."
How green are biofuels?
According to the Kenyan government's environment watchdog, the deal has actually not yet been sealed. It declined the preliminary 50,000-hectare request pointing out concerns over the impact on the environment and the sustainability of the task.
"We were suggesting 1,000 hectares ... We have informed them to validate if the number has to change which is why we have not authorized the project up to now," stated Benjamin Malwa Langwen, of the National Environment Management Authority (Nema).
However, there are now fresh calls for the Dakatcha task to be ditched as brand-new research study casts doubt on whether jatropha curcas is truly a greener alternative to oil.
The anti-poverty campaign group ActionAid and the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) commissioned a report to examine just how green the jatropha curcas task in Kenya's Dakatcha forests would be.
The study by the consultancy group North Energy, external found that jatropha would give off between 2.5 and six times more greenhouse gases when compared to fossil fuels.
This is partly due to the fact that big quantities of carbon are saved in the woodlands' greenery and soil however the plantation would imply clearing the land of this plant life.
"The report reveals that EU policies are absurd policies due to the fact that they are not minimizing greenhouse gas emissions as the EU is declaring," said ActionAid's Chris Coxon.
"The proposed biofuel plantation will ravage the woodlands, driving the internationally threatened Clarke's Weaver bird to extinction and depriving thousands of regional individuals of their incomes," said Helen Byron of the RSPB.
In response, the EU Commission defended its energy policy as "the most comprehensive and advanced sustainability scheme for biofuels throughout the world".
Unorthodox techniques
At the remote Mulunguni primary school, which lies within the Dakatcha Woodlands, a number of brand-new classrooms and pit latrines have just been built.
They were part moneyed by the European Union - the very organisation which is now implicated of pushing policies which residents fear might see the school shut down.
"My worry is the displacement of the neighborhood. It is bad to build a class and then send the pupils away," stated the deputy head Godfrey Karissa.
"Yes we need tasks. But a farm without a home is not great. You require to have a home before you go to your task."
There are plainly issues on the ground that as soon as the lease is signed, the population will be at the mercy of a profit-driven business.
Ikea says it will not source jatropha curcas oil from Kenya up until it can be sure that this will not contribute to the conversion of natural habitats.
"This switch from fossil fuels to sustainable energy must never be at the expenditure of people or the environment," Ikea told the BBC in a declaration.
The woodlands are likewise a rich source of product for conventional medicine.
If they feel let down by the government and the local authorities, homeowners simply may turn to unorthodox methods in a quote to keep the land.
"If all the seniors come together for one goal, then it is very simple to remove him with our medicines," stated Barova Kiribai, a standard healer, describing the owner of the Italian biofuels business.
The fate of the individuals here remains in the hands of the Kenyan government and Malindi's local council.
It is not unexpected they are stressed.
Kenya's political leaders do not have a great performance history when it comes to operating in the interests of the individuals.
ActionAid
Kenya jatropha curcas Energy
RSPB
Nema
Ikea
